Renders are slow, only using 2gb and 20% of PCU

Renders are slow, only using 2gb and 20% of PCU

on Apr 21, 2010 at 6:32:28 pm

I have an i7, 6gb DDR3 and a 4890 ATI card with 1gb of DDR5. As I said in the subject, it seems as though my AE CS3 is only using 20% of my PCU and about 2GB of memory. The renders are super slow for very simple tests. I am very new to after effects so any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

Re: Renders are slow, only using 2gb and 20% of PCU

by Dave LaRonde

on Apr 21, 2010 at 8:58:05 pm

[Tyler Hilligoss] "I am very new to after effects so any help would be appreciated."

Got the free upgrade to AE 9.0.2? Get it.
Trying to use Open GL to speed up renders? Don't.
Trying to use multiprocessing? Don't: you don't have enough RAM.
And my personal fave -- what kind of footage are you importing into AE?

Dave's Stock Answer #1:

If the footage you imported into AE is any kind of the following -- footage in an HDV acquisition codec, MPEG1, MPEG2, AVCHD, mp4, mts, m2t, H.261 or H.264 -- you need to convert it to a different codec.

These kinds of footage use temporal, or interframe compression. They have keyframes at regular intervals, containing complete frame information. However, the frames in between do NOT have complete information. Interframe codecs toss out duplicated information.

In order to maintain peak rendering efficiency, AE needs complete information for each and every frame. But because these kinds of footage contain only partial information, AE freaks out, resulting in a wide variety of problems.

Dave LaRonde
Sr. Promotion Producer
KCRG-TV (ABC) Cedar Rapids, IA

Re: Renders are slow, only using 2gb and 20% of PCU

on Apr 22, 2010 at 12:06:47 am

So, I don't have the upgrade yet but I will grab that when I get the chance. I had already tried turning off openGL and I made sure multiprocessing was off, which it was. I am not importing any video, all I have tried to do has been move text across the screen with one of the built in animations in the background called apparition and also one called Blocks (one after another). It is very slow to render and will only render a portion of it and almost appears as though it 'un-renders' (pardon my lack of vocab)part of the video once it renders a certain amount.

Re: Renders are slow, only using 2gb and 20% of PCU

on Apr 22, 2010 at 12:22:31 am

Also, could you direct me towards the link for that free upgrade? Thanks!

Re: Renders are slow, only using 2gb and 20% of PCU

by Dave LaRonde

on Apr 22, 2010 at 1:01:39 pm

Sorry, I don't have a link for the upgrade.

It just dawned on me that you're an AE rookie. You may regard AE as something like an editing application on steroids. You probably think hitting the space bar is how you play something in AE.

Boy, are YOU wrong!

You don't PLAY anything in AE. It has to render EVERYTHING. You move to a new frame, and it RENDERS that frame! You look at the progress of your work by PREVIEWING it. AE doesn't work anything like an editing application, it does things in a totally different way from an editing application, so you have to get used to using it differently than an editing application just like the rest of us.

Learn how to do RAM Previews:
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/AfterEffects/9.0/WS3878526689cb91655866c1103906...

I also STRONGLY recommend that you go to the following link and READ EVERYTHING:
http://blogs.adobe.com/toddkopriva/2010/01/getting-started-with-after-eff.h...

With AE, you have to know the basics. It's virtually impossible to just learn a couple of tricks to get you by. If you choose to ignore the basics, this application with hose you like nobody's business.

Kapiche?

Dave LaRonde
Sr. Promotion Producer
KCRG-TV (ABC) Cedar Rapids, IA

Re: Renders are slow, only using 2gb and 20% of PCU

on Apr 23, 2010 at 4:28:20 am

Thanks for the response. I must not be using the right vocabulary, but I am doing what you are talking about. I am using the preview feature and I am trying to learn the basics. The only problem is that my computer isn't previewing the basics. Also, as I originally noted, my computer is only using 20% of the CPU and 2GB of memory when I try to 'preview' what I have done so far. This is in the same box as ram preview. I'd have thought my computer would use more resources than that considering it seems to have a very hard time! Thanks for the help so far!

Re: Renders are slow, only using 2gb and 20% of PCU

by Dave LaRonde

on Apr 23, 2010 at 1:46:03 pm

Well, depending on what you're doing, AE sometimes has to use a lot of RAM, but sometimes it just has to sit, think & calculate.

If you're convinced AE is just plain acting weird, here are common things that alleviate a lot of weirdness:

Get the free upgrade to AE 9.0.2 if you don't have it.
Turn off Open GL for RENDERING. Previewing with Open GL is okay. Both settings are in Preferences.
Get smart about using multiprocessing with info found here: http://blogs.adobe.com/toddkopriva/2009/12/performance-tip-dont-starve-yo.h... ...... and here: http://blogs.adobe.com/toddkopriva/2010/03/performance-tip-dont-oversched.h...
Be very careful about the kind of video footage you use in AE. Read on....

Dave's Stock Answer #1:

If the footage you imported into AE is any kind of the following -- footage in an HDV acquisition codec, MPEG1, MPEG2, AVCHD, mp4, mts, m2t, H.261 or H.264 -- you need to convert it to a different codec.

These kinds of footage use temporal, or interframe compression. They have keyframes at regular intervals, containing complete frame information. However, the frames in between do NOT have complete information. Interframe codecs toss out duplicated information.

In order to maintain peak rendering efficiency, AE needs complete information for each and every frame. But because these kinds of footage contain only partial information, AE freaks out, resulting in a wide variety of problems.

Dave LaRonde
Sr. Promotion Producer
KCRG-TV (ABC) Cedar Rapids, IA